June 12, 2014

Movie Stars Who Died During Production

1. Jon-Erik Hexum: He was acting on the set of the CBS adventure series "Cover Up" in October 1984 when he picked up a .44 Magnum pistol and mistakenly pulled the trigger. Although the gun was loaded with blanks, the impact fractured his skull and he died a few days later.

Jon-Erik Hexum

2. Vic Morrow: Morrow was killed along with two child actors Myca Dinh Le and Renee Chen in July 1982 when the helicopter they were in crashed during the filming of "Twilight Zone:The Movie".
Vic was decapitated and the child actors died on the scene.

The Scene of his Death, Morrow

3. John Ritter: While on set for the television series "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Teenage Daughter" he collapsed on September 11, 2003. He was quickly rushed to hospital but died later that same evening as a result of complications resulting from a tear in aorta. The television show was later retitled to " 8 Simple Rules".

John Ritter

4. Tyrone Power: Power suffered a heart attack on March 15 1958 while on set acting a fencing scene for the movie "Solomon and Sheba", he died on the way to hospital.

Tyrone Power

5. Redd Foxx: He had become famous for acting a heart attack scene in the 1970's show "Sanford and Son", ironically he died in 1991 of a heart attack while on set of "The Royal Family", he was 68 years.

Redd Foxx

6. Brandon Lee: Brandon, the son of Martial arts and movie legend Bruce Leedied on March 31, 1993 while filming the movie "The Crow".
He died when he was shot on a scene by a blank which contained fragments of a real bullet. Special effects and a body double were used to complete the rest of the movie.

Brandon Lee

7. Martha Mansfield: She died a very tragic and agonising death. In November 1923 she was on set filming "The Warrens of Virginia" and while she was sitting in a car taking a break in-between scenes, a passerby lit a cigarrette and unknowingly flicked the match in her direction.

Martha Mansfield

The match landed on her costume, a giant Civil War -era dress which was highly inflamable, and she went up in flames.

She was severely burnt and died the next day.

8. Steve Irwin: Although not a movie actor, Steve Irwin was an animal enthusiast and a documentary superstar.

Steve Irwin

He was killed by a Stingray while filming a documentary "Ocean's Deadliest". He died on the way to hospital, the day was September 4, 2006.

According to eye witnesses on the scene his last words were, "I am dying".

9. Paul Mantz: He was a dare devil stunt pilot and actor who was known for performing jaw-dropping stunts with planes.

Paul Mantz

He was killed in January 1965 while performing a stunt for "The Flight of the Phoenix". He was flying a plane over the desert when the plane struck a hill and broke into pieces, he was killed instantly.

10. Roy Kinnear: He was filming the movie "The Return of the Musketeers" in Toledo, Spain on September 20, 1988 when he fell from a horse and sustained a broken pelvis. He died the following day from a massive heart attack.

Roy Kinnear

Richard Lester, the film director was so deeply touched by his death that he quit his own film career.

11. Heath Ledger: He had just played The Joker in the movie "The Dark Knight" and was in the middle of acting another movie "The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus"when, on January 28, 2008 he suddenly died in his hotel room of a prescription drugs overdose.

Heath Ledger

His buddies Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrel ultimately played various versions of his character in the movie.

12. Bruce Lee: He was in the middle of filming the movie "Game of Death" in 1973 when he suddenly died. An incomplete version of the movie was released that same year.

Bruce Lee

13. Natalie Wood: She was filming the science fiction film "Brainstorm" when she drowned, she was with her husband Robert Wagner and co-actor Christopher Walken.

Natalie Wood

14. Oliver Reed: British actor Oliver Reed died of an alcohol-induced heart attack in May 1999 while on location for the block buster movie "Gladiator" where he played the role of Proximus.

Oliver Reed as Proximus in Gladiator, 1999

Although most of his scenes had already been shot for the movie, digital effects were used for those final additional scenes.

15. Paul Walker: "Fast and Furious 7" was halfway through production when it's main star, Paul Walker died in a fatal car crash on November 30, 2013 in Valencia, California.